The play in game never happened as Brad conceded to me saying we should stick to the original standings. This meant John and I were going to meet in the semifinals to play the winner between Sara and Joe.

Game #20
John and I met up to play our first game. John won the die roll and chose the Ottomans. I selected the Prussians. The game was fairly close with both sides scoring a few hits. As the game went on and nightfall approached it was obvious the Ottoman cavalry was just too fast. They were able to take ground quickly and move into defensive positions as well. My Prussians took out one more unit as my last play but it wasn’t enough. John’s Ottomans took the first game at nightfall and continued his perfect record.

Game #21
A couple weeks later John and I got together to finish our games. John chose the Russians to keep his strongest armies available for the finals while I selected the British. The Brits came out strong but the hardy Russians fought back. Each side had taken two hits, but the Russians lost their mobile cavalry units. I used this to my advantage and quickly pounces on the remaining units. I drew the cards right as I needed them and finished off the Russians. John suffers his first loss of the tournament and I force a third game.

Game #22
In the final game John took the strong French. I hoped the Russians would do better for me. Since it was all on the line, we both played very defensively. In most games I’ve played the attacking unit taking a hit is a rare occurrence. However, there were 3 occasions where the attacker was surprised by a strong defense. I sprung the first trap against John, playing 3 cards on the defense. The other two were the result of some aggressive attacks where the dice just fell short. I then positioned my units along a diagonal cutting the board in half. If I could keep that line from breaking I might have a chance. The French battled back and scored some hits, but the Russians countered. Eventually the French were worn down and I was able to pick off the remaining units. I was in the Finals!

John and I have always been fairly evenly matched in Manoeuvre and our three games were no exception. I know John was upset with himself for his army selection and letting it go to three games, but all the games were close and very tense. I’m now routing for Sara to knock Joe off so that I can get my revenge in the Finals!